In prior fittings of this type, as they are disclosed in German Pat. No. 820,794, for example, the grooved guideway is in the shape of a closed, approximately L-shaped loop and is attached to the column. In the lower locking position, the pin attached to the plate is resting in the lowermost point of the grooved guideway. As the plate is lifted, the pin on the plate moves upward in one branch of the grooved loop until it hits a stop whereby the movement in this direction is terminated. At the subsequently executed movement toward one side and slightly downward, the pin arrives at a locking position in which the equipment plate is in its upper position. If the equipment plate is desired to be lowered again, the plate must first be lifted out of this latched upper position and moved sideways before it can move into the other branch of the guideway, after bypassing the previously mentioned stop, to again arrive at the lower locking position. Thus, either the pin alone or the entire equipment plate must not only be moved vertically up and down, but also sideways, i.e. at least the pin if not the entire plate. This is particularly annoying when attempting to have the pin enter the upper locking position and a certain amount of dexterity is required to execute this maneuver and prevent the pin from sliding back in the same guideway branch into its lower position.
Furniture fittings are known in which the pin is prevented from an uncontrolled entering into the grooved sections by flexible switching means. However, the flexibility of such switch tongues is frequently impaired by dirt or debris so that they require a certain amount of maintenance. For this reason, such switch tongues permitting a controlled insertion of the pin into the desired section of the guideway are not widely in use.